Time and the Serenity
by 666PsychoCheddar999
Summary: The Doctor certainly has friends in strange places. At two different points in his time stream, the Time Lord has a run in with the crew of the Serenity at two different points in theirs. Can the 11th Doctor and Amy Pond save them from what lurks in the black and will the 10th Doctor discover what waits on Earth-That-Was?
1. Warm Welcomes

Time and the Serenity

1. Warm Welcomes

The Doctor sat on the edge of his TARDIS, the doors flung wide open and his red and white converse shoes dangling over the side. He stared out and sighed at the immense blackness that was before him, with the few tiny pinpricks of light that were spread far and wide across it.

He had realized lately that he needed to take more time to enjoy moments like this, just him and his thoughts. Not that he had much choice now, having nobody to travel with. It was as if suddenly the entire universe had heard that the Doctor was a terrible travelling companion and were keeping away from him at all costs. And, to be fair, he was a terrible travelling companion and keeping away was probably a good idea. Not that he was much in the mood these days, with Donna's memory wipe and Adelaide Brooks' suicide. He was constantly wary of anyone knocking more than three times near him, which he had come far too close to on Mars.

He shook his hand and gave himself a few slaps around the face. His purpose wasn't to think about all of that. He was going to relax here, for Clom's sake. He lay on his back, feet still hovering above the great darkness below and closed his eyes, breathing in and out. This was his time to, for once, relax. And nothing was going to spoil it.

Except the rather large ship that slammed into the TARDIS and sent him hurtling over the edge, just managing to grab onto the bottom of the blue box. He could see vague shapes of people moving around in the cockpit, undoubtedly aware of his existence. They quickly moved out of the cockpit, disappearing from the Doctor's view. The TARDIS had managed to stop them altogether, which was quite impressive for a wooden box about a tenth the size of his accidental assailant. The Doctor rolled his eyes and hoisted himself back up to the TARDIS, shutting the doors with an absent-minded backwards kick. He could never have just one moment to himself. Just a few minutes was all he asked. He could go to the Legendary Relaxation Planet of Vehe and still find himself facing a Dalek armada within minutes of arrival.

He gave another frustrated sigh and crossed to the console, cranking a few levers and spinning a few dials. He set a course for inside the ship, which he thought he had better take a look at, if only to exchange insurance numbers.

Did the TARDIS have an insurance number? Where would it be written? And would it be accepted in this time period? What time period was he even in? The Doctor was interrupted from contemplating the answers to these questions by the sound of the TARDIS landing.

He strolled over to the door, admittedly eager for another adventure and was met with a whole host of people in fairly worn-out clothes, some with guns in their well-displayed holsters. At first, they looked pleased to see the Doctor and then their expressions suddenly turned to confusion, followed promptly by them all aiming their guns straight at the Doctor, which looked quite old-fashioned for the era.

The one in the long brown coat heading up the group took a step forward, gun pointed squarely between the Doctor's eyes, a look of anger in his eyes.

"Now, Stranger, how about you tell me what you're doin' in the Doctor's TARDIS before I relieve you of it by force?" he asked, his aim unwavering.

The Doctor looked at each person individually, trying to see if he had met them at any point before. No bells were rung in his head and so he looked back at the group leader, suddenly realizing what he had just asked and responded with a loud, "What?"

* * *

"The 26th century, Amy! Wonderful century!" grinned the Doctor as he danced about the console, cranking a few dials and pulling a few levers and doing a little twirl for good measure. "2517 to be exact, so we can stop by and visit a few friends of mine!" Amy attempted to interject at this point but the Doctor either pretended not to notice her or was too distracted by nostalgia. "Malcolm Reynolds is a good chap, reminds me of myself when I was a bit younger. Jayne can be a bit…trigger happy but he's nice enough. Probably won't recognize me now that I actually have some style…"

Amy, rolling her eyes as the Doctor prattled on, noticed the absence of momentum in the TARDIS and realized they had landed, even though the Doctor hadn't noticed, now describing a Unification…something or other to himself. Amy decided to leave him to his own memories and promptly walked over to the TARDIS doors, pulling them open. It appeared as though they were in some sort of mess hall, as there was what looked like a kitchen nearby and there was a large table in the middle of it, with about 3 people sitting around it. A man in a brown trench coat, a rather too-intimidating man with a large rifle strapped to his back and a girl who stared at Amy like she knew she was coming, whereas the other two just looked shocked.

Well, for the few seconds before they decided to leap out of their seats and point their guns at Amy. Great.

"Umm…hi!" Amy grinned, more in terror than in genuine kind greeting towards the two heavily-armed men.

"Hello." replied the girl still sitting down and perfectly calm. She said it without a smile but still with a certain air of kindness, prompting a confused backwards glance from the taller, heavier-built man.

"Who are you and what are you doin' on my boat?" the man in the trench coat asked Amy, his stare unwavering. Amy felt more intimidated by him than she did by the larger man.

"I…uh…don't know. You'll have to ask…" Amy managed to stutter out and, right on cue, the Doctor came strolling out of the TARDIS, locking the door behind him and still talking as if they hadn't even left the box yet, his back turned to the two armed men behind him.

"…and of course I'll have to take you to Saint Albans at some point. Not the nicest place you'll ever go but they have the best baked beans this side of the universe!" He finally finished locking up the TARDIS and turned around to face the men, his face lighting up upon seeing the man at the forefront of the small group of three.

"Malcolm!" he called to the man with outstretched arms, walking towards him with a happiness that lit up the whole room.

Until Malcolm Reynolds shot the Doctor.


	2. Wibbely Wobbely Timey Wimey

2. Wibbely Wobbley Timey Wimey

The Doctor came to lying down on a bed and was immediately aware of the harsh lighting in the room he was in. It felt like he was in a medical clinic and he could hear someone else moving around in the room. He felt a pain ebbing from his left side and slowly moved each limb in turn to check he was still functioning properly. His right hand flew to his neck to check if his bow-tie was still there and un-damaged. An immense sense of panic came over him as he realized it wasn't there and neither were the rest of his top-half of clothes.

He sat up immediately, wincing slightly as the pain in his left side intensified and then slowly subsided. The other person in the room noticed his pain and came over, placing one hand on the Doctor, supporting him.

"Woah! Take it easy." he said, as he helped the Doctor up off the bed.

"Wh-where's Amy?" asked the Doctor, suddenly aware of how woozy he was and how much he was slurring his words, which quite frankly was just embarrassing.

"Amy? Oh, your friend! She's fine, she's still in the mess hall." The Doctor nodded back and when the man was sure he wasn't going to get a response, he continued. "My name's Simon. I'm the doctor on this ship, the Serenity. You…arrived here about an hour and a half ago, do you remember that?"

The Doctor looked up at Simon and recognized him for the first time. His face lit up at another friendly face he recognized.

"Simon! Simon Tam! On the run from the Alliance with his sister, River! Gave up a high-paying position for this! You're a good brother!" he grinned, the wooziness beginning to wear off. Simon's face became one of panic as the Doctor seemed to recognize him and, worst of all, know who his sister was. Before he could ask, the Doctor had already answered.

"I'm not with the Alliance, Simon!" he smiled, finding his on the table and putting them back on, even the blood-stained shirt. "I know because I've met you before! But that was a different body, I suppose, and I'm beginning to suspect a later point in your timeline."

The Doctor glanced down at where the pain was still coming from and saw the bandage that had been wrapped around his mid-riff with a patch of blood on his left side. He merely looked back up and went for the med bay door.

"Ah, yes. I was shot. Thanks for patching me up. I'd rather not have to regenerate right now if I don't have to. That would just make things more confusing…"

He opened the door to see a person who he didn't know, which was a change. An old man holding a prayer book and looking as confused as Simon did.

"Oh, hello!" the Doctor said, shaking his hand. "I don't believe we've met, which is awfully strange. I'm the Doctor. And you are-?"

Shepard Book, while completely bamboozled over the current situation, had not lost his manners and returned the handshake with a smile.

"Shepard Book." he replied. "Pleased to meet you."

The Doctor's face went pale as he heard his name and his mood suddenly completely turned around and he looked as if someone had died.

"Is everything alright?" the Shepard asked, as the Doctor stood staring at him, which was quite unnerving.

The Doctor shook his head and reverted to happiness, although not as much as he had been before.

"Nope. Everything's fine." he said, looking between Simon and Shepard Book. "Great to meet you both. I'm off to see the Captain."

There was a moment of pause between Simon and Shepard Book, as they both tried to comprehend what had just occurred.

Eventually, Shepard Book broke the silence with, "Well, you might have some competition for the doctor of this boat, Simon." He then turned and followed the Doctor up the stairs.

"What was he wearing?" Simon muttered to himself, as he did the same.

* * *

The Doctor took a good look at the interior of the ship as he was escorted through it, noting how many corridors there were on this thing. Whoever these people were, they were likely smugglers. Eventually, they came to a room with many small cubicles and what looked like some sort of medical bay, where a young girl was watching him with a creepy stare that the Doctor tried to ignore. He was led into the area with the cubicles and was pushed inside it, where there was a bed and a chair but nothing else. It looked like it hadn't been used.

The Doctor sat down on the bed and immediately began to speak before the other two men escorting him had entered.

"Well, I must say, I like your ship! I mean it's got that rustic feel to it. Firefly class, am I right? Often favoured by smugglers. Oh, I'm not judging. I mean, some people just deserved to be smuggled from quite frankly." The Doctor went on until he could run his mouth no more. He wasn't entirely certain these people weren't going to shoot him for 'impersonating' the Doctor. He hated himself sometimes. Well, his other selves anyway. Especially the idiot with that vomit-inducing jacket.

Malcolm smiled, half-sincerely as he was still not entirely sure this man wasn't an Alliance agent. He certainly didn't dress like one.

"I would agree. People like the Alliance, for example." Malcolm responded, rather ham-handedly throwing his accusation at the Doctor.

The Doctor caught on to this and then his eyes gazed upwards, trying to remember what year he had originally set the TARDIS to.

"Let's see, let's see…" he mumbled to himself as he racked his brains. "I set the TARDIS for 25th…no…26th century. Early 26th century. So that means…Aha!" he said, raising his voice causing the larger man to jump slightly. "The Unification War! Between the Browncoats and the Alliance! And if you lot are this far out in space…I imagine you were on the losing side."

The Doctor stared long and hard at Malcolm, trying to get a reading from him. The ship certainly looked beat up enough and a smuggler would have no love for the Alliance. The other man looked like a hired mercenary as well, like he would sell out the Doctor in a heartbeat if someone like the Slitheen came knocking. A thought popped up in the Doctor's mind and he couldn't help but ask.

"What's the name of this ship, Captain? I'm assuming you're the captain, anyway." said the Doctor.

The larger man's face became one of severe anger, as he blurted out, "Hey, how come you didn't think I could be the captain?"

The Doctor looked away from Jayne, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, and exchanged a knowing look with Malcolm, who looked back to Jayne.

"Jayne." he said, nodding at the door. "Go."

Jayne looked annoyed as he looked from the Doctor, back to Malcolm and then back to the Doctor again, before standing up and up leaving. The whole room rattled as he slammed the door as hard as he could, which was quite hard.

Malcolm lowered his gun, no longer pointing it directly at the Doctor but he didn't put it away. He took a seat on the chair and leaned back into a more relaxed position.

"So." he said, pausing for a second before continuing. "You got a name?"

The Doctor also left a short pause before he answered, "The Doctor."

"You're not the Doctor." Malcolm said, so assured that the Doctor was taken aback somewhat.

"Um…excuse me?" he asked, cocking his head at an angle.

"We already met a guy called the Doctor and you look nothin' like 'im. And you don't have that ginger girl with you. Amy."

The Doctor mulled this over in his mind before rolling his eyes once more and asking, "What did this Doctor look like? Did he have a scarf? Ah, I loved that scarf…"

The Doctor was snapped out of his nostalgia by Malcolm replying, "No, he was wearing a bowtie. Kept saying it was 'cool'. And this odd kind of jacket."

"A bowtie?" the Doctor called out in disgust. "Urrgh! I hate bowties. It's just a piece of ribbon on your neck. I've never worn a bowtie in my life, so it must be one of my future selves. Did he mention regeneration at all?"

Malcolm mirrored the Doctor as he thought back to his encounter. "Yeah. Actually, he did. How do you know that?"

"And did he say anything about having met you before?" the Doctor asked, leaning forward.

"Yeah, he did." Malcolm responded, trying to figure out how this man could possibly know about the Doctor. "He said he had met us before and that he couldn't believe he had worn those ridiculous…red…shoes…" Malcolm's eyes widened as he looked down and saw the Doctor's red shoes.

"Well," the Doctor mused, sitting back against the wall and looking at Malcolm. "That is interesting…"


	3. Knowing Me, Knowing You

3. Knowing Me, Knowing You

The Doctor and Malcolm sat there staring into space for a long time, trying to comprehend the notion of what had just been realized.

Well, the Doctor had worked it out a long time ago and was now thinking about scarves again and whether his current body could still pull one off but he figured the Captain, not being a time traveller, would need a little more time to work it out. He also realized he didn't know the Captain's name and was cycling through what it could be in his mind, until he couldn't stand it any longer.

"So, I don't believe I caught your name, Captain." the Doctor asked, trying to look as uninterested as possible by looking at his hands.

"No." Malcolm was still staring at the wall, not even looking at the Doctor, who was unsure how to respond to such a closed response.

"So…you feel like telling me?" the Doctor asked more directly, hoping he would give a straight answer.

"Malcolm. Malcolm Reynolds."

The Doctor clapped his hands together and smacked himself on the forehead a few times for stupidity.

"Malcolm! Why didn't I think of that? I thought you were called Jeremy. You look like a Jeremy. I went to a planet called Jeremy once and they tried to boil me in toothpaste at 1000 degrees. I escaped by making a speech about dental hygiene and then they made me their Secretary of Agriculture. Weird place…"

The Doctor looked back at Malcolm, who was still staring at the same spot of wall, clearly looking quite shaken by the recent revelation. The Doctor let silence hang in the air for a moment before his concern won out.

"Malcolm?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

Malcolm sat up from his leaning position and looked at the Doctor, as if that would solve all of the questions running through his mind. He decided to lay them all on this 'Doctor' at once to see if that would help.

"How can you know about the Doctor, the man whose TARDIS you happen to be flying around in? But you say you are the Doctor. If that's true, then how come you look completely different, dress completely different, talk completely different and you don't have that Amy girl with you? Furthermore, you act like you don't know any of us and yet I distinctly remember meeting the Doctor and…" Malcolm stopped, not wishing to detail anymore of his meeting with the Doctor to this imposter, in case he managed to trick the crew into believing he was the man they had met. It was good to have this question's out in the open though and he leaned back, breathing heavily and awaiting the man's answer.

"Malcolm," the Doctor began, in a softer tone. "What did you do with this other Doctor? Who did you fight? Daleks? Cybermen? Silurians?"

"He…he mentioned Daleks but I didn't meet any. Or Cybermen. Or Silur-whatevers. And how did you know we fought anyone?" Malcolm replied, more and more amazed about how much this man knew about the Doctor.

"Only way people get so attached to me, to be honest, is through fighting something with me. Now, what did you fight? Give me a name." the Doctor demanded, more and more invested in his future now.

"He called them…err…" Malcolm muttered, as he struggled to remember.

"Come on, Malcolm. You can remember. What did we fight?"

"They were called…Sontarans."

* * *

The Doctor arrived on in the hangar, much to the shock of the other three there. Amy came running over and pulled the Doctor into a hug, which he awkwardly returned.

"Oh, Doctor, you're alright!" Amy grinned, as she let go of the Doctor.

"Your concern is appreciated." The Doctor smiled back before turning to look at the other two in the hangar. He recognized all of them, of course, and pointed at the one leaning against the wall covered in engine grease.

"Kaylee Frye!" he beamed and gave a small laugh at her confused face. "I know you don't know me as of yet but I certainly know you!" He strolled over and hoisted her into a hug, which caused her to give a slight yelp of surprise. He eventually put her down and she looked at him even more confused than before.

"Um…hi. Nice to meet you, Mr…?" said Kaylee, holding out an unsure hand for him to shake, which the Doctor took instantly and shook throughout his introduction.

"Doctor. Not Mr. Doctor. Just the Doctor. One and only, Miss Frye."

The Doctor then turned around and looked around for the next to greet, his eyes falling on Jayne Cobb, who he strolled over to with another huge grin on his face. He was tinkering with his gun and looked up with his typical angry face when the Doctor came near.

"What d'ya want?" Jayne grunted, as the Doctor stopped in front of him, the corners of his mouth still touching his ears.

"Jayne Cobb." he simply said, putting his hands on his hips and taking a deep breath in.

"How d'you know my name, ya pansy?" Jayne replied, putting his gun away and taking a step closer to the Doctor.

The Doctor laughed hysterically and looked back at Amy and Kaylee, proclaiming, "Classic Jayne!" which they returned with the same confused look everyone had been giving him since arrival. The Doctor looked back to Jayne and took his hand, shaking it as he had done with Kaylee. Jayne promptly wrenched it away from the Doctor's grasp with a look of severe disdain. This prompted another outburst of laughter from the Doctor, who left Jayne and went for the stairs.

"Right. I'm off to see our Captain. Come along, Pond." he announced, gesturing for Amy to follow as he proceeded up the stairs. Amy gave an almost sympathetic smile to Kaylee before following the Doctor.

"So…have you met our new friend?" said Shepard Book, who had just entered the room, as the others watched the Doctor above them.

"Not really…" Kaylee answered, as the Doctor and Amy disappeared from the catwalks.


	4. The Two Doctors

4. The Two Doctors

The Doctor stood up immediately and went for the door, Malcolm standing up to follow. They both walked down the cubicle corridor and up the stairs, the Doctor making it very hard for Malcolm to keep up.

"Hey…you!" Malcolm stuttered, unwilling to acknowledge this man as the Doctor just yet and, therefore, not knowing how to address him. "Stop! I order you to stop! Now! Oh, come on. Please?"

The Doctor strode through the ship, down corridor after corridor, Malcolm attempting to converse with him, but the Doctor shut him out completely, his only goal to get off this ship.

Eventually, they reached the main hangar where the TARDIS was parked and the Doctor pulled out the key, unlocking it and opening the door. He was about to go in when he heard a gun cocking and he froze, sighing. He turned, slowly, and saw Malcolm standing there with the gun pointed at his head. Again.

"Malcolm." The Doctor simply said, almost sympathetically. This man was just trying to look out for his crew and at the moment he looked utterly perplexed and almost scared. And so was the Doctor, to be honest.

"You are not leaving." Malcolm replied through gritted teeth, attempting to retain his intimidating persona against this stranger.

"Malcolm," the Doctor repeated, shutting the TARDIS door and taking a step forward. "If I don't leave now, I could influence events from my own time stream and influence my future."

Upon seeing Malcolm's brow furrow, the Doctor continued, putting his hands in his coat pockets and leaning against the TARDIS.

"My future self probably told you about time travel and what I do but…what he may not have told you was that there are fixed points in time and there are points where it can be rewritten. Now, I don't know whether this is a fixed point or not. And I'm not willing to take that chance because I care about the people on the ship, even though I don't know any of them. Malcolm...if you care about your crew…you'll let me go."

Malcolm didn't drop his gun but he seemed less focused and did not attempt to stop the Doctor as he opened the TARDIS door. He looked back to see Malcolm still just staring at him, trying to work out what the hell had happened in the space of about forty-five minutes aboard his little smuggling ship.

"Don't worry, Captain," the Doctor smiled as he stood in the threshold of his little blue box. "I'll see you again."

The Doctor shut the doors and crossed to the TARDIS console melancholically, throwing his coat over one of the railings and slumping onto the chair nearby. He sat there for a while, wondering whether he should go back and take the chance, if only to have the chance to meet new friends. He shook the thought out of his mind and got up, reaching for the TARDIS accelerator. He was reaching for it when the entire ship shook violently and he staggered backwards, falling onto the chair and gripping the sides as the TARDIS rocked violently from side to side.

The instant the feeling subsided, the Doctor sprinted to the entrance, pulling the doors open and just managing to catch himself before he stepped into empty space. The Serenity was completely gone because the TARDIS hadn't moved at all. This had happened once before to him, so he didn't spend any time gawking and wondering what to do next. He already had a few suspicions over who had taken them and none of them were pleasant but, right now, he knew there was only one way of finding them. And it wasn't going to be easy.

He slammed the doors shut and crossed to the console, leaning over it, and preparing to ask something of his beautiful ship that he would never consider under normal circumstances.7

"Look," he began, knowing how the magnitude of what he was about to request of the TARDIS. "I know that you know every version of me that ever has existed and ever will exist and I know you're not supposed to show me my future but…there are people in danger and they need my help. And I need your help. I will only ask where they are and then leave, no matter how much danger I may be in. Please. Take me to me."

There was nothing but silence throughout the TARDIS when the Doctor had finished his plea and a sense of dread came over the Doctor, as he bowed his head and stared at the TARDIS console. He had barely even met these people and only knew the names of two, so why was he willing to cross his own time stream to save them? Maybe it was because he felt as if he had seen them before or his own sick sense of curiosity. Regardless, there was no way to find them now without the TARDIS's help.

And then came that familiar wheezing sound. The rise and fall of the central column. The sound of the TARDIS saying 'Yes'. The Doctor's solemn face transformed to a gaping mouth display of pure happiness for the companion that never left him, no matter what.

"You beauty!" he cried, as he stood back in awe as the TARDIS flew itself to where it was needed. To where she was needed.

The grinding of the central column came to a halt at last and the Doctor looked behind him at the doors, his future self, waiting for him just outside them. He bent down and hugged as much as the console as he could fit his arms around and whispered, "Thank you." The TARDIS let out one of its famous sounds from somewhere in the control room, as if reminding the Doctor to get a move on.

The Doctor got the message and turned around to see the TARDIS doors open and a baby-faced man in a bowtie come strolling through, clutching a piece of paper. He was attempting to smile at the Doctor, although it looked fake. The Doctor could always tell when he was lying.

The Eleventh held out the piece of paper and explained, "Galactic co-ordinates for where the crew of the Serenity are being held. Or rather…will be held. Wibbely wobbly…"

"…timey wimey." The Tenth Doctor replied as he took the piece of paper and placed it on the console for later. There was a moment of pause between the two Doctors, before the Eleventh nodded and turned to leave, making it to the doors before the Tenth asked, "Sontarans?"

The Eleventh paused, his façade of happiness quite faded now.

"Yes." he almost whispered, as him and the Doctor shared a look that only the Doctor could understand. "Good luck, Doctor."

"Thank you, Doctor."

With one last curt nod to each other, the doors slammed shut behind the Eleventh and the TARDIS kicked into life immediately without the Doctor even touching the console, obviously eager to be away from this potential universe-ending paradox. The Doctor raised a quizzical eyebrow, as he turned to the console and asked, "Did you know the co-ordinates already?"

There was silence again in the TARDIS.


	5. Old Foes

5. Old Foes

The Doctor smiled as the TARDIS came to a halt and patted the console, along with a, "Good girl."

As he went to retrieve his coat from the seat, the wheels in his mind started to turn and he began to think. Who or what would abduct the Serenity? He didn't know of anyone who would have the motivation to capture a random salvage ship.

He walked over to the door and pulled it open, stepping out into the Serenity mess hall. He closed the door and looked around for any signs of life but the place seemed deserted. The peace and quiet made him think some more. The only ones who would have the technology to abduct the Serenity from deep space would be…

"HALT." cried the Dalek, as it entered the mess hall. "THE DOCTOR WILL REMAIN WHERE HE IS OR HE WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

Oh, dear.

* * *

The Doctor, Amy following behind, arrived on the bridge, where Malcolm turned to look at him with a slightly alarmed look.

"Malcolm!" the Doctor cried, as he moved towards him with both arms outstretched and then quickly moved back. "Ah, best not to go through that again."

"I'd say I was sorry but I'm not." Malcolm responded, looking back to the console. It was at this point the chair swivelled around and the Doctor saw another face he didn't recognise.

"He wouldn't even go to the med bay to see you," the man smirked. "Said he was 'needed on the bridge because you sure as hell can't keep 'er running, Wash'"

The Doctor's eyes widened at the mention of the man's name and he crossed over to him, holding out his hand for Wash to shake.

"Wash." he said, with just a tinge of sadness. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Uh…you too. Whoever you are."

"The Doctor" he responded, letting go of Wash's hand. "And this is Amy."

"Hello." Amy confirmed, waving to the two men, who nodded back.

There was then an awkward silence on the bridge, as the four there discovered they had nothing to talk about whatsoever. The Doctor meanwhile anxiously shuffled his boots and waited for these Sontarans to show up. He didn't know when they were going to arrive, all he knew was 'Sontarans' from what he had been told in his last incarnation by this one. He had always wondered why he had looked so sad.

The silence was eventually broken by the arrival of Zoe Washburne on the bridge, which the Doctor greeted with the same amount of glee that he gave everyone else.

"Zoe!" he cried, mirroring the handshake he performed with Wash.

"Umm…hello." she said, shaking his hand. She then swallowed, obviously afraid and turned to Malcolm.

"Captain. We have a problem. A pretty big problem."

"Well, what is it, Zoe?" Mal responded, curious as to what had Zoe so worried, his most hardy teammate.

And then the five Sontaran stealth operatives on the Serenity bridge materialized, each with a gun to one person's back. The atmosphere was tense, which generally happens when there are a lot of guns in a room being pointed at people.

The Sontaran pointing his gun at the Doctor raised one hand and removed his helmet, showing its potato-like head, much to the shock and fear of the Serenity crew and Amy.

"Doctor," it smirked with pride, having just captured the Sontaran's greatest enemy. "We've been waiting for you."

* * *

"Oh, hello." The Doctor smiled to the rest of the Serenity crew, guarded by 3 Daleks, as he was led into the hangar bay. They all looked absolutely terrified, especially Jayne.

"So, what's the point in this, then? What do you want from me, Daleks? Feet?" the Doctor grinned, patting himself on the back for thinking of that joke. He looked back at the Serenity crew to see if any of them laughed but they were still terrified.

A Supreme Dalek came trundling over to the Doctor, the Doctor staring it down. He knew Daleks still had some concept of fear. Why else would they call him the oncoming storm?

"THE DOCTOR WILL OPEN THE TARDIS FOR THE DALEKS." The Supreme Dalek bellowed, as the crew of the Serenity became more terrified at this new species.

"Doctor, don't do it!" yelled Kaylee, taking a step forward, but a Dalek moved in front of her.

The Doctor looked back at Kaylee, gave a little smile and turned back to the Dalek Supreme.

"And what good would that do you?" he asked, sauntering in a circle around the Dalek, the eyestalk following him. "Isomorphic controls, matey. Besides, you don't even have hands. You would have a nice box to put on your mantelpiece and that'd be about it!"

He made a mental note to apologize to the TARDIS later for calling her a box to put on your mantelpiece.

"YOU WILL OPEN THE TARDIS SO THAT THE DALEKS MAY FUNNEL THE TIME ENERGY INTO OUR TIME CAPSULE."

The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks at 'time capsule' and stared at the Supreme Dalek in horror.

"Wait, did you say time capsule?" he asked, his two hearts beating at a marathon rate.

"BEHOLD, DOCTOR. THE DALEK TIME CAPSULE."

The hangar bay door slowly began to open and as it did, the Doctor's face grew more afraid, more horrified, more dumbfounded.

There, sitting in the hangar bay, was a large steel capsule, with a door designed for a Dalek to fit through. The Doctor could hear it humming with power and could see by the door handle that it was designed for a Dalek.

"No…" the Doctor whispered, as he stared at what should have been impossible.

"THE DOCTOR WILL SURRENDER HIS TARDIS TO THE DALEK EMPIRE OR HIS FRIENDS WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

The Doctor turned and saw the three Daleks with their guns squarely pointed at the Serenity crew.

"No!" cried the Doctor, running over to the three Daleks. "Leave them alone! They haven't done anything!"

"THE DOCTOR HAS FIVE RELS TO SURRENDER THE TARDIS OR HIS FRIENDS WILL BE EXTERMINATED! FIVE…"

The Doctor glanced back and forth between the Serenity and the time capsule. He couldn't give the Daleks the secret of time travel but he couldn't let innocents die either.

"FOUR…THREE…"

The Doctor stared at the time capsule now, flattening his hair with both hands and breathing in and out heavily. He didn't know what to do but he had to make a choice.

"TWO…ONE…"

Now.

"EXTERMINATE!"


End file.
